Are gardens flooded by Moccasin Creek OK?

Q Our garden plot at the community garden has been flooded with water from the Moccasin Creek. Are the vegetables we have planted there Ð onion sets, cabbage, radish, lettuce and carrots Ð going to be okay? A Due to the flooding in Aberdeen, the Moccasin Creek has been contaminated with any number of pesticides and pathogens. Pesticides may come from agricultural or other sources and pathogens from septic systems, sewer systems or raw livestock waste. The standing contaminated water on your garden plot will deposit contaminants on the plants rendering them unsafe to eat. The best recommendation for any vegetable gardens that have been covered with potentially contaminated flood water is to destroy the affected plants and start over again. The exception would be the perennial vegetable plants such as rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries. The recommendation for these perennial garden plants is to remove all contaminated aboveground portions of the plant. Only the new, uncontaminated growth should be consumed if it is washed and thoroughly cooked. Since rhubarb is cooked to make rhubarb sauce and asparagus is cooked before eating, new growth from those two could be eaten. However, strawberries are normally eaten fresh and would be unsafe to eat for the season. Why you may ask - because the contaminants residing in the soil after the flood waters have receded can be splashed onto the fruit. Only the combination of washing, peeling and thoroughly cooking would result in vegetables or fruit safe to eat. Q Our garden was flooded with water that had raw sewage in it. Once the water goes down we plan to work the garden and plant. Will the produce be safe to eat? A There are pollutants and pathogens in the flood water covering your garden. When the flood water recedes, it will deposit those pathogens in the soil of your garden. Those pathogens can survive in garden soil for 90 days or more. Rain or sprinkler irrigation can splash those pathogens onto growing vegetables and fruit. Any produce from your flood contaminated garden will have to be washed, peeled and thoroughly cooked to avoid the risk of pathogens. You will need to limit your vegetable choices to those that can be washed, peeled and thoroughly cooked, at the least, washed and thoroughly cooked. Produce with thick outer rinds can be washed thoroughly before cutting open. The "wash, peel and cook" or "wash and cook" requirement will rule out leafy greens and vegetables such as lettuce, chard, spinach, cabbage, radish, celery, table onions, tomatoes and peppers. Vegetables that meet the "wash, peel and cook" rule would include snap peas, carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, potatoes, beets, and lima beans. Those that qualify for the "wash and cook" rule are broccoli, cauliflower, snap beans, edible pod peas, and perhaps tomatoes and peppers, if cooked. Those vegetables that have the thick outer rind would include squash, pumpkin, muskmelon, and watermelon.